14 Apr 2011

President Stephen was in Beijing, so PE Martin Was the acting President yesterday. We had two birthday boys: PP Tobi and Rtn Stephen. PP Paul led us singing happy birthday to them and PE Martin presented a bottle of red wine each to them.

We had five Visiting Rotarian from 3 Rotary Clubs yesterday, they were from Rotary Club of Jakarta, Indonesia, Rotary Club of Jumeirah, Dubai UAE and Rotray Club Zug, Switzerland.

The speaker today was Mr. Jerry McLean from HK Sharks Foundation to talk about “Sharks: The crisis in our seas”. Jerry is a volunteer of the Foundation. As of 2010, IUCN data indicates that no fewer than 143 shark species are listed being globally threatened and thus at high risk of extinction now or in the near future (i.e. critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable). As of 2011, and despite increasing pressure from environmental lobbyists around the world, limited protection in the form of trade restrictions is in place for only three shark species – the whale shark, the basking shark, the great white shark.

The objective of the Foundation is through educating local audiences about the reality of the situation: our message is about sustainability not culture. More and more people in Hong Kong are joining the worldwide movement to take personal responsibility for protecting the environment. Some are motivated by a love of nature and animals, but others simply want the earth’s natural resources, including its seas and oceans, to stay clean and healthy for the benefit of ourselves and future generations. We believe that when the facts are known, Hong Kong people will choose to conserve the earth’s resources instead of destroy them. We have a chance to set a positive example and lead a trend in communities in China and elsewhere, and we believe that Hong Kong people will seize this opportunity.

As their effort, the shark free wedding is popular now especially within the young people, and more and more hotels and restaurants who offer shark-free menus.
Sergeant at Arms PP Francesco collected HK$1,065 from raffle and fines. VP Rebecca and Rtn Stephen’s guest won the raffle prizes: chocolate Easter eggs. In addition, a visiting Rotarian presented two boxes of Switzerland Chocolate to us for raffle and won by PP Paul and PP Francesco.